Self Conveyancing - any experiences; NOT needing legal advice

[skipepsi]

I set off doing my own conveyancing on a property but stopped when it became clear that the couple it had been owned by were deep in a bitter divorce battle, up until that disclosure it had all been going very well but at that point I decided I was out of my depth and stopped the whole purchase.

[chris p bacon]

Every time I have come into contact with a solicitor they have got it wrong, house moves, probate and divorces and caused all sorts of delays in getting it sorted.

I have used the half way house to what you are proposing and used a Conveyancer,

They Were, Cheaper quicker and more interested in your work. They carry insurance so if it all goes to pot they are covered (and you) and they got it right!!!

A solicitor has fingers in many pies and often it's not them doing the work but their clerks.

They Q

 And yet my experience is the opposite, every year I buy at least one piece of land and sell one house and all the problems we have had with those transactions are due to "Conveyancers", these aren't minor problems either, they are of such magnitude that they have left their clients homeless.

 

A good law practise will have several solicitors within, that specialise in a certain part of the law (divorce, family etc), our son recently purchased a house and his fee was quoted beforehand, it was pretty much the same as that quoted by other parties to gain the work.

 

I've gone through similar life experiences as yourself and I do sometimes wonder that we expect the law to do what we want, when it can only do what is the law and is a bit "unbending"

[Bernard Lamb]

Every time I have come into contact with a solicitor they have got it wrong, house moves, probate and divorces and caused all sorts of delays in getting it sorted.

I have used the half way house to what you are proposing and used a Conveyancer,

They Were, Cheaper quicker and more interested in your work. They carry insurance so if it all goes to pot they are covered (and you) and they got it right!!!

A solicitor has fingers in many pies and often it's not them doing the work but their clerks.

They Q

You must have been very unfortunate.

I must declare an interest as my daughter is a solicitor though not involved in the day to day business of dealing with private houses.

For any body thinking of a DIY job consider what can go wrong.

Conservation areas

Local listed buildings

Any chain where you do not know all the links

Bridging finance

Any body involved in the chain dropping dead

Unapproved work

Restrictive covenants

Party wall agreements

Selling to or buying from a non UK resident

Shared access

Responsibility for drains

I have only ever bought two houses in my life and all of the above points cropped up at one stage or another.

There are so many potential and costly headaches that it is just not worth the risk.

Bernard

[edcayton]

Interesting that some of the examples given as reasons for using solicitors actually cite mistakes made by solicitors!

 

Ed-been let down by the legal "profession" too many times

[Horsetan]

.....

I've gone through similar life experiences as yourself and I do sometimes wonder that we expect the law to do what we want, when it can only do what is the law and is a bit "unbending"

Then there are some clients who believe the law doesn't apply to them....

[jonhall]

It isn't for that - just wanted a challenge and as I deal in the detail of writing technical and 'project compliance' documents day in day out - thought it might be within my scope.

If you just want to do it for the challenge, you could always do it in parallel to the solicitor - that way you might at least be able to compare the two reports and see if your solicitor is any good? 

 

Jon

[leopardml2341]

If you just want to do it for the challenge, you could always do it in parallel to the solicitor - that way you might at least be able to compare the two reports and see if your solicitor is any good? 

 

Jon

Now that's a thought..........

[chris p bacon]

Interesting that some of the examples given as reasons for using solicitors actually cite mistakes made by solicitors!

 

Ed-been let down by the legal "profession" too many times

The examples I gave were by "Conveyancers" these should not be confused with solicitors, so many times they have had the most minimal of training in the law, an example I could give is my ex wife was approached by a firm of conveyancers to work for them, as she had been PA to a senior partner. That they thought, was sufficient experience. She did decline and looked at going down the legal exec path, don't know if she did...she is the "ex" after all !

 

I look at it that if they do make a c*ck up, they have an indemnity to cover you. Have to say I've never experienced one, watched a few but not experienced one.

[leopardml2341]

A quick update for those interested:-

 

So far I'm on my second solicitor, first one quoted a price and when engaged sent T's and C's with different price in them, they could not get the address right and sent me scanned documents to confirm accuracy which were not legible.

 

Second solicitor isn't fairing much better, sent docs for review that were missing pages and over 4weeks later have STILL not sent completed docs. They have had search results for over 4 weeks and still not reported on them, failure to respond to attempts to contact them, the list goes on...............

 

I have raised queries about inconsistencies in the docs sent to me - surely they should have been reviewed 'in house' without getting to me to sieve out - these are not legal questions, just issues arising from inconsistencies arising from my detailed review of the submitted docs. Net result  is that over 3 months later I still haven't completed the purchase and it looks like collapsing all due to the tardiness and lack of attention to detail exhibited by professionals.

 

What chance compensation for loss I wonder.............

[Horsetan]

Someone up there clearly has it in for you.

[leopardml2341]

Someone up there clearly has it in for you.

.......or the Solicitors forget that we are their customers. Business must be too easily obtained?

 

I will be pursuing.

[Horsetan]

.......or the Solicitors forget that we are their customers.

Which may amount to the same thing.

 

Business must be too easily obtained?.

It probably is if your clientele is mainly from the Far East. They are buying property here like there's no tomorrow.

[petethemole]

I did my own conveyancing in 1987 with no problems, apart from delays (not down to me, I was buying from two siblings, one of whom had learning difficulties so other people had to handle and approve things on her behalf). Used a solicitor for this place though. Prior to the '87 purchase I was going for a house being sold by a couple who were splitting up and were going to split the price 50/50. One was at sea however which slowed things down, then they decided to divorce, both engaged solicitors to fight the other for a bigger share and the whole process stalled so I pulled out. I later heard they'd sold but each spent loads on legal fees. In the '87 "hurricane" next door's chimney went through the roof!

 

Most local authorities now have an on-line search facility for planning applications within a selectable radius of a given property. Even within the council it was quicker to use that than get information from Planning.

 

If you're thinking of extensions, or to demolish and rebuild, check if you're in an area of archaeological importance as defined by the council; you may have to factor in the cost of archaeological work.

 

Pete

[exmoordave]

I would never advise anyone either way, but you might find it interesting to read a book, written by a solicitor - Michael Joseph, and called "The Great Conveyancing Fraud". This was published quite a few years ago, so how much has changed I can't say, but you may find the book a revealing insight.

 

exmoordave

[Horsetan]

That, in part, explains why professional indemnity insurance premiums have been sky-high for those Solicitors who want to do Conveyancing. Even when you stop doing it, you still have to pay for run-off cover for the three years after you cease work in that category.

[45669]

It's been a few years but I used to be an estate agent in a previous life. Whenever someone decided to do their own conveyancing, there were ALWAYS problems. It was especially difficult if it was the buyer that told you this. Your first loyalty is always to the vendor as they're the ones that are paying your bill. How far do you go? Just tell them of your past experience? Reccommend against the buyer? Difficult if there isn't exactly a queue of buyers. Recommend that the property stay on the market until exchange of contracts? Unpopular with buyers and with potential additional costs if you decide to change to a "proper" buyer at a later date.

 

Bottom line...get a solicitor.

 

Snap!  I, too, am an ex-estate agent!  I don't recall anybody ever trying to do their own conveyancing though, but I wouldn't have been very happy if someone had.  How would you chase up the progress of the sale if one party was self conveyancing?  Just imagine the chaos if both parties were doing it!!

[ChrisB]

A quick update for those interested:-

 

So far I'm on my second solicitor, first one quoted a price and when engaged sent T's and C's with different price in them, they could not get the address right and sent me scanned documents to confirm accuracy which were not legible.

 

Second solicitor isn't fairing much better, sent docs for review that were missing pages and over 4weeks later have STILL not sent completed docs. They have had search results for over 4 weeks and still not reported on them, failure to respond to attempts to contact them, the list goes on...............

 

I have raised queries about inconsistencies in the docs sent to me - surely they should have been reviewed 'in house' without getting to me to sieve out - these are not legal questions, just issues arising from inconsistencies arising from my detailed review of the submitted docs. Net result  is that over 3 months later I still haven't completed the purchase and it looks like collapsing all due to the tardiness and lack of attention to detail exhibited by professionals.

 

What chance compensation for loss I wonder.............

 

Which is the main reason why HIPS was such a fraud from the outset. It was supposed to be the government doing something to speed up the house buying process which it was never going to do as it didn't address the cause. It was just another tax.

[BOARD OF TRADE]

Austin Mitchell M.P. wrote a book many years ago called I think "The Conveyancing Fraud" which basically said that Solicitors and licensed conveyancers did very little to justify their fees and that anyone with a modicum of sense could do the job perfectly well themselves without any risk.

Some years later he was forced to admit publicly that when he had recently sold his house and bought another one he had made such a mess of it that he had had to rely on the other parties solicitors to sort out his mess!

Put another way if the average cost of a house in the U.K.is,say,£175,000 would you buy a second hand super car for that price without having an HPI search done and an expert carry out a full engineer's report for you at the cost of several hundred pounds or would you give it a good look over and hand your money over on the basis "what could possibly go wrong"?

[skipepsi]

It is not their skills we depend on it is their insurers!

[leopardml2341]

It is not their skills we depend on it is their insurers!

 

That would certainly seem to be the premise on which the people I have engaged are working, sorting it out themselves does not seem to be part of the plan.

 

I am still awaiting answers to questions I first raised on 17th June, one question was this:-

 

Page 8 0f 12 of the document you have asked me to review is missing, please supply complete document.

 

Do you think I've got it yet ?

 

Also when chased for answers to all the queries they keep telling me they have supplied them............. If so, why would I be wasting my time asking. It's clear that if they  think that they've answered all queries that they aren't gonna be chasin' 'em - ergo no progress.

 

It turns out that they consider this term 'Awaiting response from other party' to be an answer!

 

To me, this at best is a situation report NOT an answer - gobsmacked - I am !

[Horsetan]

Austin Mitchell M.P. wrote a book many years ago called I think "The Conveyancing Fraud" which basically said that Solicitors and licensed conveyancers did very little to justify their fees .....

.....to say nothing of *spits* estate agents.